Making Meaning of the September 11 Attacks: Spanish- and Mandarin-Speaking Focus Groups

This article examines experiences and perceptions related to the September 11, 2001, attacks among members of two immigrant groups (Spanish-speaking and Mandarin-speaking) in New York City. Focus groups were conducted 1–2 years after the attacks. Qualitative analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti. Three major themes emerged: (a) Immediate Experience of the Attacks, (b) Evolving Psychological Adjustment, and (c) Long-Term Issues of Public Concern. The groups’ discussions diverged with temporal progression across these themes, reflecting increasing congruence with broad conceptualizations of their respective cultures. The findings suggest that, over time, culture increasingly influenced the meaning these people made of the disaster.     

Rebuilding security: group therapy with children affected by September 11

This article examines group therapy with children and adolescents impacted by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, with a focus on the role of metaphor, enactment, and the creative arts therapies in trauma treatment. Attention is given to the importance of fantasies, family structure, and culture in determining how the child constructs and processes the events. Examples are derived from ongoing, trauma-focused groups with traumatically bereaved children who lost parents, as well as from ongoing drama therapy groups in which traumatic themes emerged.     

In the aftermath of September 11: group interventions with traumatized children revisited

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, affected thousands of children psychologically, necessitating the mobilization of multifaceted mental health interventions in an ecological context. This paper reviews the major role of large and small group modalities in this challenging effort, with many of them based on earlier group work with child-victims of trauma.     

Character strengths before and after September 11

Did Americans change following the September 11 terrorist attacks? We provide a tentative answer with respect to the positive traits included in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and measured with a self-report questionnaire available on-line and completed by 4,817 respondents. When scores for individuals completing the survey in the 2 months immediately after September 11 were compared with scores for those individuals who completed the survey before September 11, seven character strengths showed increases: gratitude, hope, kindness, leadership, love, spirituality, and teamwork. Ten months after September 11, these character strengths were still elevated, although to a somewhat lesser degree than immediately following the attacks.     

Groups for children traumatically bereaved by the attacks of September 11, 2001

The article reviews the use of debriefing and support groups for children who experienced the deaths of family members in the traumatic events of September 11, 2001. An overview of children's normal age-related responses to bereavement and of the special circumstances of trauma and grief provides the foundation for understanding the unique family and community stressors of 9/11 that impacted the children and group leaders. Stress-reduction exercises suitable for use with traumatized children in bereavement groups are presented together with specific drawing and written activities to encourage the processing of feelings.     

Conducting analysis after September 11: implications for psychoanalytic technique

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center profoundly affected the population of New York City, including analysts and analysands. To study the effect of this event on the technique of psychoanalysts conducting ongoing analysis during the weeks after 9/11, confidential questionnaires were sent to all candidates and faculty at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. Respondents indicated that in the days and weeks following 9/11 they initiated phone calls to their analysands, asked about their analysands' families, gave advice when it was requested, offered reassurance, and answered personal questions. They did not initiate physical contact, discontinue use of the couch, or give unsolicited advice. These responses suggest that these analysts made decisions to alter their technique in certain ways in the wake of a catastrophic event shared by the community.     

Coping and anxiety in college students after the September 11th terrorist attacks

This study investigated the presence of a stress response after the September 11^th terrorist attacks in a sample of indirectly affected college students living in Boston, Massachusetts. Anxiety was examined at two time intervals, approximately 2 and 4 months after the attacks. Methods of coping with the stress of the attacks (assessed using the COPE Inventory) and their impact on initial and longer-term anxiety were also examined. Results demonstrated that the majority of college students in the study were severely psychologically impacted initially by the terrorist attacks. However, this initial impact appears to decay over time for most people. Several potentially maladaptive coping strategies were found to be predictive of initial anxiety, including denial, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement, and focus on and venting of emotions. However, only focus on and venting of emotions was found to be uniquely predictive of longer-term anxiety.     

Cognitive behavior therapy for fear of flying: sustainability of treatment gains after September 11

This study examines the long-term efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for fear of flying (FOF) after a catastrophic fear-relevant event, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Participants (N = 115) were randomly assigned to and completed treatment for FOF using 8 sessions of either virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE) or standard exposure therapy (SE) prior to September 11, 2001. Individuals were reassessed in June, 2002, an average of 2.3 years after treatment, with a response rate of 48% (n = 55). Analyses were run on the original data and, using multiple imputation procedures, on imputed data for the full sample. Individuals maintained or improved upon gains made in treatment as measured by standardized FOF questionnaires and by number of flights taken. There were no differences between VRE and SE. Thus, results suggest that individuals previously treated for FOF with cognitive-behavioral therapy can maintain treatment gains in the face of a catastrophic fear-relevant event, even years after treatment is completed.     

Psychological resilience after disaster: New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack

Research on adult reactions to potentially traumatic events has focused almost exclusively on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although there has been relatively little research on the absence of trauma symptoms, the available evidence suggests that resilience following such events may be more prevalent than previously believed. This study examined the prevalence of resilience, defined as having either no PTSD symptoms or one symptom, among a large (n= 2,752) probability sample of New York area residents during the 6 months following the September 11th terrorist attack. Although many respondents met criteria for PTSD, particularly when exposure was high, resilience was observed in 65.1% of the sample. Resilience was less prevalent among more highly exposed individuals, but the frequency of resilience never fell below one third even among the exposure groups with the most dramatic elevations in PTSD.     

Marking the anniversary: adolescents and the September 11 healing process

Clinical data are presented from a day spent at a New Jersey high school severely impacted by the World Trade Center disaster. Dissociation, a sense of numbness, anger, and guilt about feelings induced by the tragedy are all common dynamics in adolescents responding to trauma. The developmental issues that adolescents are confronting are described and discussed in terms of the challenges they present to the healing process. An argument is made that using groups to aid in the long recovery process with our young people should be a top public health priority.     

Changes in attitudes towards war and violence after September 11, 2001

Two inter-related studies examined the effect of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on attitudes towards war and violence. A three-wave between-subjects analysis revealed that attitudes towards war became more positive after September 11, 2001 and remained high over a year afterwards. Self-reported trait physical aggression also rose after September 11. Attitudes towards penal code violence (PCV) became more positive immediately after September 11, but were somewhat reduced a year afterward. A two-wave within subjects study revealed that war attitudes became even more positive at 2 months post-September 11. Attitudes towards PCV became less positive during this time period, but only for women. Other aggression-related attitudes were not affected in either study. These studies demonstrate that a large-scale event can change attitudes, but those attitudes must be directly relevant to the event.